Martin Robinson Delany

This chapter is about Martin Robinson Delany who was an exceptional orator, journalist, medical doctor, and civil rights activist during the nineteenth century and how his ideas can be used to build a new Africa. Delany spoke of the injustices of slavery and proposed a great migration of African descendants to the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. He is also widely revered as the “Father of Black Nationalism.” Although Delany is well regarded for his contributions to Black Nationalism, his work does not often receive credit as his contemporary Frederick Douglass. Delany was a proponent of the emigration to communities in countries that were accepting of African descendants, whereas Frederick Douglas was a proponent of integration into and equality of African Americans in the economic, political, and social life of America. Delany also authored and edited several publications on the state of African Americans. Some of his most famous publications included The Origin of Races and Color (1879), The Condition and Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States (1852), and Blake or the Huts of America (1859–1861). These publications and others are qualitatively analyzed by employing the explanatory case study methodology to delineate ideas that can be used to build a new Africa.